~ Musings of a Bean Counter

Update, of Sorts

I have noticed that it has been three months since my last blog entry. Wish I could say that lots of stuff has been happening, which has kept me from my blog. Sadly the case is that my life has been relatively routine and boring, so not much to blog about.

My contract at Strawberry ended in March and I spent the next two months looking for a new role. I hate being jobless, but I also hated dealing with the various employment agencies. I was looking for a new role, but I was not willing to do only one or two week placements. I’m sorry, but it is well nigh impossible for a one week placement to ever become a permanent role. If a company is looking for a one or two week cover it is because they require immediate help with either an audit or yearend; once the workload lessens the temp goes away. I do not want a CV peppered with temporary placements – it does not look good if one is looking for a good company to work for – it makes look like you are fickle, even if you can explain that due to economic circumstances you’ve had to change roles due to circumstances .. if you are lucky enough to ever reach in the interview stage.

Generally I find that HR is more highly involved in the interview process here in the UK than in Canada. There are pluses and minuses to this, but in general I prefer not to have HR present during my interviews. I am an accountant, so there are certain technical skills that only another accountant can assess – not HR. HR can look at things like corporate fit, whether or not the person has decent references, and if they are legal to work in the UK. Ideally HR should be involved towards the end of the interviewing process – once Finance has a short list of who they believe can do the role, then it should be a question of social fit.

I was fortunate to find a role at a local construction company and it is officially a three-month contract. I keep hoping it goes permanent – I like it here. The pay isn’t the greatest in the world, wish it was higher, even by £3K. But it’s a pleasant work environment, the people are nice and supportive. And there are opportunities for me to learn. Would I work here until I retire? Only if the FC moved up or on. Ideally, if they keep me, I’d stay here for about 2 years to get a good solid block of UK work experience, and hopefully within 2 years the economy may have improved enough for me to actually find something comparable to what I had in Canada – Chief Accountant/Assistant Controller or even a Controllership.

So at the moment I’m doing okay job-wise. What about my personal life?

Like most relationships there are ups and downs, but generally our issues have been dealt with. As one friend mentioned a while ago on Facebook, there is an initial period in which every couple goes through – where they try to work out several issues. The key is communication. I believe my relationship with Munkie is more than excellent because we do communicate. Yes there are the occasional flare-ups, but generally we do quite well together.

In terms of what mischief we’ve been up to since the last blog post:
• Went to Hay-On-Wye for Easter Weekend – it was a mini-lbw organised by Mr Chaperone. We showed up a day early, so we traipsed about the place, exploring. On one day we went to Goodrich Castle and Hereford, sadly we missed seeing the Mappa Mundi
• Checked out The Vyne, near Basingstoke – they had a Tudor weekend when we went, so there was a huge Henry VIII, a Jane Seymour and the cutest little blonde boy saying say “my lords and ladies” – there was also archery and sadly we did not bring cash, so no sword for Munkie
• Went to Corfe Castle – there was a Viking Battle re-enactment – sadly no sword for Munkie
• Went to a concert at the Royal Albert Hall
• Saw Cats for my birthday in Southampton
• A number of delicious lunches in London with Mr Chaperone – Hawksmoor is my favourite
• A lovely day of taking a boat up the Thames towards Hampton Court with Munkie
Not sure what is next. But our next big adventure is a trip to the colonies to visit Momma Bean, Lil’Bro, friends and whale watching!

It took a little while. I was just completing my first level when I got my first job as an A/P Clerk at a construction company. Once you get that first job, then it gets much easier, cos you can easily show on your CV that you have both work and academic experience/knowledge.